Happy Panem Day
by KTstoriesandstuff
Summary: Happy 4th of July Fanfiction! With barbecues, fireworks, humor, and hotness, our favorite characters of the Hunger Games celebrate their nation's founding holiday: Panem Day! Set before the 74th Hunger Games so this features our District 12 favorites, Rue, Thresh, District 4, Team Nerds, and our favorite Career couples!
1. District Twelve

Katniss opened her eyes and immediately yelped as a smashed in yellow whiskered face stared back at her purring loudly. "PRIM!" She yelled as Buttercup's paws kneaded her threadbare blanket. "Get your hairball off my bed!" Prim slid out of her and her mom's bed and cradled Buttercup.

"But Katniss, he has a red, white, and black ribbon! For Panem Formation Day!" Katniss sighed looking at Buttercup's ribbon around his neck. Today was the country's birthday where celebrations would go on in the Capitol and in the districts. It took place mid-summer about a month after Reaping Day. As fifteen year-old Katniss had made it through another Reaping Day unscathed, she could justify celebrating.

"Happy Panem Day, Little duck. I'm going hunting." Katniss said ruffling her little sister's hair. Prim dashed out the door with Buttercup in tow. After setting him down in Lady's pen, she began milking lady.

"Want some milk? Oh, that's a good boy!" She crooned at her cat who was lapping fresh goat's milk off of a tin saucer. "Hi, Lady!" Prim nuzzled her face against Lady's neck as Lady made sounds of contentment. Katniss smiled at Prim and her animals before walking toward the woods.

"Hi, Gale." Katniss called as Gale appeared from behind a bush. "Gale!" She gasped noticing he was wearing nothing but his threadbare underwear. Sweat covered his pecs, abs, arm muscles, and leg muscles.

"Hey. I got warm setting up the traps." He explained gesturing further into the woods. Katniss looked at his cargo pants and tan shirt hanging on a tree. After Gale dressed, they walked to his traps where rabbits, squirrels, and a raccoon were caught. Katniss added a beaver, skunk, and two more rabbits to the pile. They knew many families would travel to The Hob for some meat to grill in outdoor coal pits later on that day. After skinny dipping in the lake, they headed back to the District to begin trading their meat.

"Hey, Breadboy!" Gale called knocking on the door to the Mellark Bakery where Peeta was inside frosting cakes with the seal of Panem. "Open up! We got something for ya!"

"Uh - Hi." Peeta said opening the door and gazing at Katniss in her hunting gear with her signature braid to the side. He blinked as a dead squirrel was waved in his face. Gale smacked Peeta with the carcass and wrapped his tanned muscular arm around Katniss' waist.

"Ya want this for your mincmeat pies, Breadboy?" Gale asked as Peeta took the squirrel.

"Yeah. Thanks." Peeta replied still gazing at Katniss. "Um - Katniss - and Gale, would you like some bread?"

"Sure." Gale and Katniss chorused. Peeta pulled some loaves that weren't cooked to his mother's standards and handed them to the Seam hunters.

"Thanks, Peeta. Happy Panem Day." Katniss said smiling. Peeta smiled as he took in her grey eyes that looked at him with gratefulness.

"Any time, Katniss. Any time." Peeta said smiling. Ignoring Gale's eye-rolling, Katniss grabbed Gale's hand as they headed back toward the Seam with their hunting bags empty and their pockets somewhat full of coins.

"WE HAVE BREAD!" Prim squealed as Katniss walked in the door with her loaf of bread.

"Yeah, c'mon, Prim. We're going to the Hawthornes." Katniss said as she dropped her hunting bag off at her house. "Put the bread in the box so it doesn't get stale." Prim put the bread in the box on the kitchen counter before hurrying into the bedroom. "Prim!" Katniss sighed.

"Katniss, I want to find a nice clean shirt!" Prim explained through the bedroom door.

"Ugh, Prim, I just did laundry two days ago!" Katniss called . "You don't smell like Lady and your hairball, I swear!"

"How can you tell, you smell like hunting and Gale!" Prim responded coming out of the bedroom wearing a light blue skirt and her least frayed red shirt.

"Rory will like that outfit on you." Katniss remarked causing Prim to blush. They went over to the Hawthornes were Gale was helping his little brothers dig the coal pit where they would grill their meet.

"That's it, Rory. That's it, Vic. We're almost done digging" Gale instructed. "Catnip and Prim are here." Rory looked up and blushed as Prim came into view. Even for eleven years old, Rory was starting to develop muscles like his older brother Gale.

"H - Hi, Rory." Prim stammered blushing.

"Hey, Prim." Rory said leaning against the wall of the house and shoving his hands in his pockets in a 'cool' pose.

"Um - Rory, you just got dirt and coal in your pockets." Prim pointed out.

"Smooth, Rory, Reaaal smooth!" Gale called as he arranged the coals in the coal pit.

"SHUT UP, GALE!" Rory yelped before running into the house and washing his hands.

"Hey." Katniss said wrapping her arms around Gale.

"Hey." Gale whispered.

"You'll get tanned today." Katniss said noticing Gale was once again shirtless.

"Yeah." Gale grunted. "Wanna help me start the fire?" Katniss nodded. Vic ran off to find Rory and Prim promising he would tattle on them if he found them kissing behind the house. Gale smiled at Katniss as they got a good fire going in the coal pit. "Ma!" Gale called into the kitchen window. "We got the coal pit going!"

"Ok, Gale, I'll bring out your meat!" Hazelle called. She brought out Gale's hunting bag. Gale took the slabs of meat and laid them on the coals. Using a metal homemade spatula, he cooked the meat until it was done.

After the meal, the Hawthornes and Everdeens went to the town square where Mayor Undersee gave a speech as the sun was setting. As he ended his speech, Haymitch Abernathy decided to stumble in front of the crowd and sing the Panem National Anthem getting the words mixed up for everyone's amusement. Once he stumbled away, several mine workers used extra dynamite to shoot off firecrackers behind the Mayor's mansion. As Katniss watched the fireworks, she had her arm around Prim and her arm around Gale. With each Panem Day she celebrated, she dreamed about the day when the nation would truly be free.


	2. District Eleven

Rue grinned as she dumped the last of the cotton into her large burlap sack. She whistled her four-note tune to signal the early end of the workday. The Mockingjays passed on the message and soon the people of District Eleven went back to their houses. Rue played a game of tag with her six younger siblings as her parents set up a firepit where they would roast meat and bread.

"You can't get me, Rue!" Rue's next youngest sister squealed.

"Just you wait!" Rue called before large arms picked her up. "THRESH, PUT ME DOWN!" She squealed as Thresh's deep chuckles filled the air. "THREEEEESH!" Her neighbor laughed as he began tickling her. Thresh was like an older brother to Rue and would join her and her siblings playing.

"Rue! Thresh! C'mon!" Rue's father called. "I got the apples and ham cooking!"

"YAAAY!" Rue and her siblings cheered. As they piled food on their plates, Thresh made sure Rue and her family got what they wanted before helping himself. They sat around the fire and shared stories about the year and about past Panem Days.

After the sun went down, Rue's and Thresh's families went out to the fields where other workers were shooting off fireworks. After Rue helped her siblings climb the trees, Thresh settled her atop his shoulders so she could enjoy the view. Rue smiled as red and white fireworks lit up the sky. She knew Panem wasn't the perfect country, but for her, it was home.


	3. District Four

Annie giggled sitting on the porch of her home in Victor's village as Finnick came into view wearing nothing but his speedos with the Panem logo on each cheek in the back and strategically placed in the front. "ANNIE! HAPPY PANEM DAY!" Finnick called waving before pausing to shake his hips for Annie's amusement.

"Finnick!" Annie giggled as she ran toward him, the white sand under her feet. She was wearing a simple red bikini as they would spend the morning swimming.

"CAN'T CATCH THE HOTTNESS, ANNIE!" Finnick cheered before diving into the waves.

"Yes, I can, Finnick!" She squealed swimming after him. Diving under the water, she wrapped her arms around his leg. "Gotcha!" She giggled surfacing. They laughed and swam in the water until they saw a small person waving to them from a wooden canoe. "Nana!" Annie called waving back. "We're coming!" She swam toward the boat and climbed in as Mags smiled at her. "FINNICK!" Annie yelped as Finnick's speedos made an appearance on deck before he did.

"I had sand up them, Annie!" Finnick whined. 'Nana' Mags chuckled and dipped his speedos in the water before handing them back. Finnick picked up his trident and he and Mags soon worked out a system where she would bait a fish before he speared it through. After their boat was quite full of all kinds of fish, Finnick took the oars and rowed back to shore as Annie gushed to Mags about his bulging muscles.

"Woo hoo! This hotness is gonna barbecue!" Finnick cheered as he and Annie started a bonfire on the beach to Victor's Village. Four other victors came over bringing other sea food and bread rolls. Mags placed woven grass baskets out for the food. Soon Finnick set several large platters of grilled fish on the tables. "Dig in!"

"Mmm, you always do a good job with grilling!" Annie sighed before she and Finnick shared a kiss.

"Thanks." Finnick replied. "I'm glad to do it if it makes you and Nana happy." As the sun set, Finnick and several other Victors rowed a boat with fireworks out onto the ocean.

"I do hope he's careful." Annie muttered before Mags said something and patted her on the back reassuringly.

"WOO HOO! THIS HOTNESS IS SHOOTING OFF SOME FIREWORKS!" Finnick cheered before he and his friends set off red and white fireworks that lit up the sky. Deep in his heart, he knew he would work for his Annie to live in a free Panem, but for now, happiness filled his heart knowing he gave Annie a fun Panem Day.


	4. District Three

Beetee groaned and opened his eyes. He found himself laying on his back on the floor of his basement workroom. "Good morning." Wiress purred in his ear as she lay on top of his sprawled out form. "I believe today is -"

"Panem Day, I know, hon." Beetee mumbled reaching for his glasses that were hastily thrown under his table.

"Yes, and you finished -" Wiress sat up looking at Beetee's books and a long coil of wire on his table.

"My high-voltage wire. I know, honey. I suppose we celebrated that last night." Beetee sighed reminding himself that no matter what the circumstances, forty-three years old was too old to fall asleep on the floor.

"You only _suppose -_" Wiress teased trailing her pale slender fingers up and down Beetee's skin.

"Oh my wires -" Beetee groaned feeling other parts of himself wake up. Wiress giggled before winking.

"My handsome inventor, I will remind you -" Wiress breathed before kissing him soundly.

An hour later, Beetee insisted his thirty-one year old wife help him off the floor and into the kitchen. She smiled at him as she baked a tray of bite-size rolls sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Humming the Panem national anthem, she set the table with red and white napkins. They finished breakfast and walked to the city market where flags of Panem were flown from the various shops. "Still at it even on Panem Day?" The owner of the refurbished electronics shop asked as Beetee and Wiress picked up some electronic equipment that needed to be fixed. Most of it belonged to the district government or schools as even ordinary citizens didn't own very many electronics except for kitchen gadgets or light fixtures.

"Yes, but only for half a day -" Wiress began as she worked on a toaster-oven.

"Then we'll get ready for the fireworks." Beetee explained happily. After they fixed the electronics, they went to the Mayor's mansion to discuss the Panem Day festivities.

"So we put down fireproof spray over the roof of Factory Four -" Wiress began.

"In case the fireworks don't all dissipate in the air." Beetee finished. "However, we developed ones that will burn up completely."

"Interesting." The mayor said smiling. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Tesla, you haven't set the District on fire yet, so I trust your abilities to give the citizens an enjoyable show."

As evening fell, Beetee and Wiress sat on top of Factory 5. Beetee pulled his notepad out of his pocket protector and went over the details one more time. "My Beetee -" Wiress whispered kneeling behind him with her arms around his shoulders.

"Yes, hon?" Beetee asked warily staring at his wife who grinned slyly.

"For luck -" Wiress whispered in his ear. "No one sees us -"

"Up here?" Beetee asked. Wiress nodded eagerly. "My wire, do you mean -" In reply, he was pushed onto the soot covered roof. Half an hour later, Wiress giggled as she pulled on her clothes. She sang the Panem National Anthem again as she checked the machine holding the fireworks.

"And, ladies and gentlemen!" The Mayor called from a microphone on the stage set up near the Justice Building. The citizens of District Three had been socializing and picnicking in the city center for the afternoon. "Ah - Beetee and Wiress Tesla have finished their - ah - preparations and are ready to begin the fireworks display. A floodlight illuminated the roof of Factory Five. "Ahem, Teslas, are you ready this time?" The Mayor asked in a two-way radio.

"Yes, we are, we just checked -" Wiress began.

"What do you mean _ready this time?_" Beetee asked worriedly. "Did you see anything unusual up there?"

"Other than the two most famous inventors of Panem rolling around enjoying themselves, I didn't see anything odd on the roof." The Mayor replied causing Beetee to blush darkly.

"Oh, we must've rolled out from behind a smokestack -" Wiress began deep in thought.

"Moving on, lets just shoot these off!" Beetee ordered as his wife gave him a smirk. They donned their protective gear and Wiress held her remote control device in her hands. With a nod, Beetee shot off the first red firework. Wiress detonated her fireworks of all different shades and colors. She was as enraptured as the crowd below watching the multicolored lights in the sky. The Panem National Anthem played from speakers perched atop the Justice Building as the people cheered. Beetee watched his wife work the fireworks show and smiled. _Hon, I promise I will make a Panem for you where you can celebrate being truly free._


	5. District Two

"CLOVE!" Sixteen year old Clove scowled as her focus shifted from the wooden target hung in her room. "_CLOVE!"_ Flinging her throwing knife at the target, she stamped across the marble floor of her room and yanked open the door.

"WHAT, MOTHER?" She screamed over the balcony overlooking the living and dining room of the three bedroom two bath home in District Two.

"Your hair appointment is in half an hour! Get dressed and get down here, please!" Her mother called.

"I'M MISSING TRAINING HOURS BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID PARTY, MOTHER!"

"Clove, the training center is closed today for Panem Day." Her father called. "Just come down here and appease your mother, please." Clove let out a string of curse words as she flung her throwing knives at the target. Once the bullseye was impaled with a dozen throwing knife blades, Clove stomped downstairs.

"Clove, why aren't you in your evening dress?" Her father asked warily from the couch as his wife opened a compact and powdered her face sighing impatiently.

"Because, oh, it's not _evening._" Clove muttered sarcastically. Her father sighed knowing no amount of coaxing would get Clove to cooperate peacefully with anything non-training related. Clove's life revolved around training for the Games in which she would be a volunteer at age eighteen.

"Clove," He said carefully. "Social events will be something you must do as a Victor. We are trying to prepare you for that as well." Clove smirked.

"Ok. Show me the dress." Clove ordered. Her mother retrieved a red and white ruffly strapless dress from the closet. Trying not to gag at the bows and sparkles covering the bodice, she nodded. Once she was dressed, she and her mother took a bus to the salon where they would get their hair and makeup done for the Panem Day party later that evening.

As Clove reluctantly sat in her chair while a hairdresser draped a plastic covering over her shoulders, she heard a familiar voice outside the building. "NO! I will _not_ go into a girls' salon!" Clove smirked as a scowling face appeared at the salon window.

"Now, my Cato-kins, salons are for men too. Remember, we're getting your hair highlighted for the party. Don't you want to look handsome like Brutus?" A blonde haired woman asked as she opened the door and beckoned to a scowling tall muscular seventeen year old wearing a tux. "In you go, now."

"Hey, Cato." Clove called from her chair. "It's prep-team training."

"Shut up!" Cato growled embarrassed that a girl - no - _that particular_ girl from his training group was seeing him in a salon surrounded by shelves of women's shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, and even nail-polish.

"Oh, speaking of training, you'll in an out in a flash, dear." Cato's mother assured him as she signed them in at the reception desk. "REI called and your special-order triple-XL jock-strap came last night. They're open until 3pm today, so hurry over and pick it up after you're done here." Cato blushed darkly at his mother's loud announcement to him.

"And I can test it at training tomorrow." Clove sneered.

"Shut up!" Cato replied with gritted teeth as he heaved himself into a salon chair across from Clove. Clove chuckled as her hairdresser washed her hair in the basin. Cato amused himself with watching Clove's hairdresser braid her thick dark brown hair while his highlights were setting. He noticed Clove's hands twitching on the armrests as she gazed at the tray of sharp scissors just out of reach.

"Did you try on your jock-strap?" Clove asked loudly as she ladled soup into a bowl with the seal of Panem at the bottom. "Was it comfortable?" She was at the buffet at the neighborhood Panem Day party held at an event center five miles from her house.

"Shut up, Clove!" Cato snapped glaring at her as she laughed. His gaze fell on her elaborate updo and face that had just the right amount of makeup. Once they got their food, they sat next to each other with both sets of parents at the table.

"Cato-kins," Cato scowled around a large bite of pork drumstick drenched in BBQ sauce. "Now, no getting BBQ sauce on your tux." His mother admonished noticing Cato grasping the piece of meat with both hands and BBQ sauce smeared across his face.

"I'm hungry! Brutus said I need more protein!" Cato protested.

"Well, eat it like you're at the Capitol." Clove snapped as she delicately cut her meat and vegetables. After the meal and after Cato cleaned his hands and face in the restroom, the two teenagers were allowed to head outside to watch the fireworks that would be lit above the mountain skyline of District Two. As the red fireworks lit up the sky, Clove and Cato imagined celebrating a Panem Day where they would both be Victors that all of Panem would respect and revere.


End file.
